Bleeding Love
by olicityducklings
Summary: Regina Mills thought she deserved her happy ending. She thought she was loved — finally mended and rescued from the darkness. Now, someone needs to be there for her, to show her that he is able to love her strongly even without a heart behind his ribs; to show her that she's the woman he wants to be with, not Maid Marian. Post-finale OQ. One shot.


**A/N: So I think I might be going through this phase where Outlaw Queen is my OTP because I swear this sudden need for OQ fics and fan videos came out of nowhere... though I'm not complaining! I'm sure there's several post-S3 finale OQ fics already, but I personally think this is a little bit different, mostly because the idea and the theme of the oneshot came from the song "Bleeding Love" by Leona Lewis which I think fits PERFECTLY with Regina's character.**

**So, I hope you guys like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time or the song.**

* * *

_Closed off from love, I didn't need the pain_

_Once or twice was enough, and it was all in vain_

-:-:-

Broken.

Regina Mills, the woman who had desparetly tried so hard to change, become more than just a "_villain_" for the sake of the few people left in her life that truly loved — was _broken_. She was a dark silhouette, a fragment of the light that had started to shine through her.

_Light magic _— she remembered it soaring from the palms of her hands; she had used it to defeat Zelena. She had no idea she was able to harness such a thing — Emma was supposed to be the only living being not only in Storybrooke but in all the realms that could wield light magic.

But it came to Regina, not just because she was becoming a better person, a _hero _— but because for once in her life, she was _loved. _Loved not only by her adopted son, but by Robin Hood, his little Roland — even Snow White, who she had hunted after and threatened to destroy for years on end, who had finally been starting to warm up to her and she was beginning to do the same.

Everything had felt absolutely perfect for once in the Queen's life. She had finally gotten the happy ending she very well deserved.

And then, _just like that _it was gone — in a flicker of an instant.

She could barely stand in Granny's Diner a moment longer. A happy reunion between husband, wife, and son may have spread cheerfully to the other citizens of Storybrooke, but Regina could feel the cold, dark claws clenching dangerously around her heart. She didn't _want _to be that person again — the person everyone in Storybrooke had once feared immensely; the person with dark magic running through her veins. She just wanted to be _good_, good for Henry — and she _knew _he still loved her, and that warmed her heart — but she also wanted to be loved by the _one person _that could have ever truly given her a happy ending.

And now he was _gone_ — ripped straight from her fingertips.

She hurried down the street, away from that _awful _reunion — the reunion that was _never supposed to happen_ — hoping that no one had noticed her departure. She didn't need that ungrateful savior _bitch _running after her attempting to apologize—

And there Regina was, at it again with the _hatred _and the _insults. _It should have felt so familiar to her, but after trying to become a better person for _so long _it simply left an aching feeling inside her chest. She felt particularly guilty for snapping so harshly at Emma. Of _course _she hadn't meant to destroy her relationship, but that didn't change the fact that she _did _— that her relationship _was _destroyed and clearly unfixable.

Regina didn't realize that she had made it to her mansion, and before she knew it she was inside and curled up on her bed, a comfortable silence in the air and the shadows closing in on her. She buried her face in her pillow and let out a short, painful cry — and that was all she managed to get out before leaning back against the mattress and gently shutting her eyelids, barely noticing the large tears that rolled down the sides of her face.

She woke the next morning, feeling broken, still — she had longed for it to all be some hideous nightmare, but it was all _real. _The pain, the longing, the heartbreak — the shatters of what once was, a love burning so bright, so _powerfully _that it made all the other relationships look like insignificant stars while theirs was the reigning sun.

But it was all a lie in the end — and _that _is what broke Regina Mills. It felt like she was awakening from a lovely, perfect dream, one where she _finally _got her happy ending, _finally _felt loved by a man so many years after Daniel.

And when she awoke she was the person she had always been, and always would be.

A villain — and even the smallest child knows that villains don't get happy endings.

She dragged herself out of bed, taking note that she hadn't changed out of her clothes from yesterday — her heart ached when she remembered, _God _— she dare not remember the events of yesterday, or the events of all the days before. The bad moments may have made her ache, but the good moments would strengthen the pain; make it agonozingly _worse _— so she shut her lids over those gorgeous brown eyes of hers and exhaled deeply, before changing and slipping into the kitchen to brew herself some coffee.

It was not until she carried a steaming mug to the dining room table and passed the entrance to her home did something very particular and out of the ordinary catch her eye — a small, metal box pressed against the door with an envelope placed neatly on top. Regina cautiously walked over to it and pulled a letter out of the envelope, which simply read: _Meet me in the forest tonight if you feel what I feel for you._

This made Regina extremely angry. She knew who had written this — who else would have? It was _Robin, _damnit — she recognized his slightly messy handwriting and could practically hear his voice echoing in her head as she read the letter. Did he think it was even _near _okay to embrace his long lost wife, running his fingers through her hair and pressing her lips against her forehead all while tossing Regina aside like she _didn't matter _— thus _breaking _her in the process — and then send her a letter implying that he still loved her?

It lit a spark of hope within Regina's heart, but it also broke her even more. Marian might have found out about his romantic association with her and ended things with him, and that _hurt _because it made Regina realize that no matter what, she would always be the second choice.

She was the second choice about a year ago when Henry wanted to believe that Emma was his one and only mother — and now she was the second choice when Robin wanted to believe that he could still be with his wife again.

Regina shook her head and rose to her feet, dropping the envelope into a nearby trash can and disappearing back into her mansion.

She had completely forgotton about the small metal box in front of her door.

-:-:-

Days passed — maybe weeks. No one had seen Regina for quite some time — though, not a lot of people really wanted to. They were afraid that she had gone back to being the _Evil Queen _— that she was planning a violent attack on Marian, Emma, or perhaps even the town as a whole.

And knowing this continued to break her, as each and every moment of each and every day slowly passed by.

She had _changed _— she truly believed that and she wished others could, too. Sure, she was upset. Heartbroken. Wouldn't anyone be if they were in her position? She had _fallen_ _in love _and so had he, and in the blink of an eye he was gone from her side as if she had never mattered.

And to make things worse, he had decided to make her his second choice.

As Regina sat on her living room couch, staring blankly at the wall, she took a moment to recognize how her heart felt inside of her chest. It almost seemed like it was _dulling _— not darkening, but dulling; it was losing its light — the way the heart glows when it is throbbing with love no longer applied to Regina's heart.

She was slowly deteriorating, crumbling away to dust.

She felt like she was nothing more than a shadow, a gentle breeze in the air — that gentle breeze that no one ever notices because it passes by them in a flash, barely disturbing the clear, warm, _gorgeous _air that was, so to speak, Maid Marian.

Regina's life became something of a boring, slow-moving pattern. She would pick herself up and out of bed, make a cup of coffee, bury her sorrows in a softly glowing television screen and a tear-stained pillow and taking her lunch and dinner breaks in between before heading back up to bed at the end of the day.

She didn't ever process that three weeks after she ran from Granny's with a shattered heart and locked herself inside her home, things would actually start to change.

She was cooped up in her usual routine — dragging herself out of bed, filling a mug of freshly steamed coffee — but when she started towards the kitchen, she noticed for the second time that little metal box by the front door. It hadn't moved, hadn't been poofed out by some other form of magic here in Storybrooke (which is probably how it had gotten there in the first place) — and Regina was beginning to get a little curious. She slowly made her way towards it and bent down, gently pulling up the lid.

Her hand flew to her mouth when she saw what was inside.

Regina's brown gaze fluttered over to the empty trash can containing only the letter from Robin she had thrown away three weeks ago, and she felt almost relieved when she pulled it back out. She read it a second time, before looking back at the metal box and sighing, her eyes moving to the ceiling.

_God, I can't believe I'm doing this._

He wouldn't still be in the forest. Why would he? This letter was sent to her _three weeks ago _— he had probably given up faith that she would come and kicked her once again into the dust. He had probably apologized to his dearest Marian and was living it up with her, taking Roland to the park and chuckling as they watched him play happily, his arms snaking around her waist as he kissed her on the cheek and _God _it hurt Regina _so freaking much _to even think about it.

But she still thought about it — she hadn't stopped, for the past three damn weeks — and although it hurt her so _badly _it also caused that little flicker of hope to reappear. She didn't know _why, _but it did.

Maybe because he had still thought about her — at least once. Maybe it was because she _knew _she was powerful, and that she deserved her happy ending — and that maybe, _just maybe _she would be able to win Robin Hood back.

Maybe the prophecy wasn't supposed to end now.

Maybe Robin _still was _the man she was destined to be with.

And that's how Regina found herself teleporting to the middle of the Storybrooke forest in the late evening, somewhat near the Troll Bridge. She stared to walk down the trail, stopping immediately in her tracks when she saw him.

_No. _No, it was too soon. She thought she had been ready to see him again but now that she _did _— now that her eyes focused on him, leaning casually against the trunk of a tree with his back to her, she became overrun with fear and was just about to poof herself back into her home when her foot coincidentally crunched against a twig and he slowly turned around, eyes widening when he saw her.

"Regina," he acknowledged breathlessly, taking in the side of her because _bloody hell _— he hadn't seen her in three weeks which had felt like an _eternity _and was just nearly beginning to forget how beautiful she was.

Even with his heart in the metal box Regina carried, Robin's love for the Queen still pulsed strongly in his veins.

"I only came to give you this," Regina said sharply, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible. It hurt _too much _to stand this close to him. Sighing, she set the box down and opened it, pulling out the beating red heart and cradling it carefully in the palm of her hand. "Why did you have Gold take it out in the first place? I mean, I _know _you went to Gold because that's the only way you could have gotten it taken out."

Robin shrugged. "It was the only way I could convince you to come here. I knew you wouldn't have come if I had just sent the letter." He cocked his head to the side. "Took you long enough, wouldn't you say, your Majesty?"

"_Stop it,_" Regina hissed, knowing very well that he was trying his best to lighten the mood. She didn't realize that her grip was tightening involuntarily around the heart, and Robin let out a light gasp of pain. Worried, she quickly loosened her grip. "I didn't want to come. I _didn't. _Even when I saw the heart I debated it for a while."

"But you did," Robin answered, bobbing his head slightly. A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "You did. And I knew you would — that's why I've been coming to this very spot, every night for the past three weeks. I just _knew _you'd eventually come."

Regina looked at him curiously. "There's more to this story than you just told me, Robin. Isn't there? Getting Gold to rip out your heart wasn't just so you could convince me to come and meet you here." She watched him carefully as he pushed himself off the trunk of the tree and took a step closer to her. Regina backed away instinctively — but that didn't stop him from slowly pursuing her.

"No," he agreed, his voice just above a whisper. "It wasn't."

Regina was finally forced to stop moving backwards when her back hit a tree, and soon Robin was standing just inches in front her. This should have made her happy, _thrilled _that he was showing that he wanted her again — but instead she felt extremely uncomfortable... because of _Marian_.

"_Robin,_" Regina sighed, feeling so very wanted at this moment yet at the same time so used — and _God, _she felt as if she hadn't said his name in _so long_; his name sounded perfect coming from her mouth as it rolled off her tongue and hung in the air for a few seconds before she continued. "What are you doing? You — you have a wife."

"...Had."

Regina looked up at him in surprise.

"What?"

"I loved you," Robin murmured, reaching out towards her with his hand and gently stroking his thumb across her temple. "I loved you, I still love you; I _never stopped loving you, _Regina."

Regina felt the tears forming in her eyes. "When she came back," she whispered. "When Marian came back — she — you went to her... you _completely _forgot about me, and..." She was unable to meet Robin's gaze. Her bottom lip quivered and she closed her eyes, lowering her head. "You _broke me_."

Even if Robin's heart was in Regina's hand, he couldn't mistake the searing pain that shot through his chest the moment she spoke those words. _You broke me. _She sounded so weak, so _innocent _in this very moment that Robin just wanted to _prove to her _how much he truly loved her.

But first, he needed to simply _talk._

"I know," he replied, bringing his thumb down the side of her face and pressing it to her chin. She opened her eyes and lifted her head, and Robin couldn't pretend that he didn't see the tears that now shone on her cheeks. He brought up his other hand and used both to wipe them away. "That was a mistake... and I shouldn't have treated you like that."

Regina shied away from his touch, turning her head. He understood and lowered his hands, and she turned back to face him. "Then _why did you?_" It was obvious the Queen had intended for her words to come out threatening and harsh, but due to the condition she was in — her condition as a shattered, heartbroken woman — the words slipped softly from her lips, laced with nothing but sadness and pain.

Robin sighed. "She was my wife, Regina," he told her, carefully choosing his words. "I was in love with her. For years I had thought she was dead, and then I saw her... and I was unable to comprehend anything. She was the woman that I had longed for, night after night for God knows how long, and then suddenly she appears, the first woman I truly loved, the mother to my son — Regina, I... I don't think you could possibly understand what I was going through. When you lose someone and you spend so many years hoping they return, and then one day they _miraculously _appear, you cannot control _what_ you do the moment they take a step back into your life.

"But then I realized... in the process of losing Marian, I had also found a way to give her up. And that was when I met _you. _I met you and — and everything _changed. _I had finally taken Marian from my mind; she was in my heart, yes, she would _always _be in my heart — but you were in my heart too, Regina; you _are _in my heart and you are the reason my heart still glows as brightly as it does.

"I realized that this was _all _wrong... Marian being here, _you _no longer being the woman constantly by my side. I was unsure of how I felt, so I had Rumplestiltskin tear out my heart, and the moment I held it at an arm's length, I realized that whenever my heart was _within me _I, yes, felt strongly for my Marian. But even with my heart in my hand... those feelings for _you _still remained. Those strong, undeniable feelings. Realizing that I didn't need my heart to love you... and that I _did _need my heart to love Marian... I was finally able to make my choice."

Robin couldn't help but smile at the way tears streamed from Regina's big, _beautiful _brown eyes — the tears that were now very clearly tears of happiness, pouring like glistening waterfalls from her bright, blissful gaze — and he cupped the sides of her face with both hands, gently running his thumbs along the space between her lower lip and her chin. She shivered a little under his touch; she had forgotten how much she loved it, desired it... _needed _it. She let out a quiet but undeniably happy sigh as their foreheads touched, the tips of their noses lightly pressing against each other.

"It was difficult, but I told Marian. I don't think she took it well, but I also think she understood, as painful as it made the situation for her. She promised me that she would be happy as long as I would... and we parted as _friends. _Yes, she's still the mother of my child. But I've heard stories of that savior Emma Swan from around Storybrooke... Neal, the man whose funeral you asked me to attend with you some time ago — he was the father of Henry, yet Emma still fell in love with that pirate of hers, so I figured, it must be an okay thing have your son split time between you and your divorced...?"

Regina nodded her head as a smile gradually spread across her face. "Yes," she whispered. She wasn't sure if she was completely able to process this whole thing, and her heart was pounding, and more tears were beginning to pool at the corners of her eyes and she barely understood what she was trying to say. "Yes, that... happened — Emma, and Neal... the pirate — and raising your kids and — _God,_" She shook her head, a giggle rising from her throat, and it made Robin so unbelievably happy to hear that beautiful laugh of hers that he hadn't heard in _so long. _"I don't even know what I'm trying to say."

Robin smiled gently. "I made my choice, Regina," he promised. "I made my choice and that was you. _I love you _— that's why I had my heart taken out, because I needed to know for sure that I _loved you _and now I know that I do.

Regina's breath caught in her throat. _I love you. _He loved her. _He loved her. _She watched him, their gazes locked — Robin barely flinched as Regina sunk his heart back into his chest because he was too busy admiring her and _God _— how the hell had it taken him so long to realize that she was the only woman he had ever truly wanted?

"Regina—" He was about to add on to his monologue, say a few more things about how much he loved the Queen and how it was impossible for him to imagine his life without her — but sometimes, action speak louder than words.

Regina pressed her lips to his, and even if both of them were without their hearts, they wouldn't have had any words to describe the sensation that blazed between their bodies as Robin lovingly stroked her face and Regina tangled her fingers in the thief's hair. The kiss was full of passion and desire — it had been _so long _— but it was also full of love; even if they weren't speaking out loud, with this kiss they were saying those three perfect words to each other, over and over again.

The couple eventually parted for air and Regina moved her hands from his hair, placing her palms against his chest. "I love you, too," she whispered.

Robin smiled at her before scooping her up in his arms and twirling her around, and when he lowered her and her feet met the forest floor again he pulled her towards him and kissed her a second time; slowly and softly, this kiss gentler than the first, because he needed his Queen to know how much he meant to her — that in his eyes she was the most important person in his life, and that everyone else in his path was blurred because all he saw was _her _— all he wanted to see was her, because she was all he needed in his life.

And as Robin kissed her, moving his hands from her face and wrapping his arms around her waist, Regina could feel the light returning to her heart as it beat rhythmically inside of her chest. The broken pieces of Regina Mills were quickly piecing themselves back together, as Robin Hood made her feel like the only thing she had ever wanted to be.

Loved.

-:-:-

_I don't care what they say, I'm in love with you_

_They try to pull me away, but they don't know the truth_


End file.
